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Recipes from a Cowboy’s Wife

Sweetwater resident Lori Falcon, aka, A Cowboy’s Wife, has been blogging since February 2007. You might have been a fan of her food blog, My Wooden Spoon, but she has merged it with her blog A Cowboy's Wife (acowboyswife.com).With her blog, Lori has had the opportunity to partner with many major brand names and companies like Lifetime (where she was the food editor at one time). She has also been a Spokesblogger for Kraft Velveeta (featured in the May quarterly issue of Taste of Home for her recipe creation of Shrimp Stroganoff Casserole.); a member of the Panasonic LIHD Family (received over $20,000 of Panasonic equipment to review and keep); an Ambassador for Wilton (always learning how to decorate cakes, several visits to headquarters); an official Wal-Mart Mom (has the opportunity to meet with the CEO of Wal-Mart and others to discuss important topics on behalf of moms and Wal-Mart shoppers everywhere.); and a member of the Hanes Comfort Crew (have been able to have socks and underwear donated to her local charity, among other opportunities).**Recipes and photos by Lori Falcon. For more recipes, check out some of Lori’s other posts on her blog, acowboyswife.com.Candy Hearts Bouquet for Valentine’s Day:Valentine’s Day is approaching and boy have I got a fun idea that would be great for a school party for the kids and teacher. Brach’s create your own conversation hearts allows you to personalize these fun candy hearts with an edible food coloring pen. This is a fabulous idea because I know I have personally wanted to add my own wording to suit just my husband or just one son or a friend. Truett really had fun writing all this friend’s names on a heart. He thought it was the coolest thing ever actually and he even drew pictures on them.Truett and I thought it would be fun to create a small candy hearts bouquet using the new conversation hearts. I wrote #1 Teacher on it, per Truett’s instructions. Have fun with this! The possibilities are endless and I know I mentioned for school parties, but this would be a cheerful fun way to brighten the days in your friend’s and family’s lives.Supplies:Container (we used the little cups found in the Valentine’s Day section at Wal-Mart)Conversation HeartsCookieIcingCake Pop Stick (or something similar)Instructions:On a piece of conversation heart, create your own message or word. We used #1 Teacher.Add a few pieces of conversation candy hearts to a plastic baggie and pound until broken into small pieces.Ice your cookie with the standard icing found at the store.Add your heart with the word on it in the center, followed by a sprinkling and soft pat of the broken pieces.On the opposite side of the cookie, add a glop of icing to the back and place your stick on it, making sure it’s covered well.Refrigerate for a few minutes to harden the icing.Add ‘cookie pop’ to the container and fill with remaining conversation hearts.Valentine’s Day Posey Pops:These Valentine’s Day Posey Pops would make a perfect Valentine for the little girls! With just $5, you can make several of these Valentine’s crafts. You can give one to each little girl or make a whole bouquet for the teacher. It takes no time at all and with all the beautiful themed papers out there, you could create an amazing flower using two different sheets of paper, creating petals.Supplies Needed:Solid or themed paper of your choice (I used scrapbook paper)Dum-DumsHole PuncherGlue StickRibbon (optional)Container (optional)Instructions:Fold paper and create half a heart. I cut out one heart and traced it to make sure the other hearts matched in size. I used 4 per flower.Stack hearts together and punch a hole towards bottom of heart.Around the hole, put just a little glue using you glue stick (or glue of choice). This will help keep the ‘petals’ in place. Do this for every petal you place on.Take your dum-dum suckers and place through holes, creating the center of your flower.This is optional but I tied a green ribbon underneath on the ‘stem’ to secure position. Plus, it gives the ‘leaves’ look.You can write on them if giving as a single Valentine or you can create a bouquet like I did. I filled the cup with candy hearts and stuck the flowers in it.White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries:We made these white chocolate dipped strawberries for our anniversary but I also think Valentine’s Day is another fitting occasion to make these for. It’s super simple and you can totally have fun with it by using different chocolates or glazing with something. Enjoy! Ingredients• Strawberries• White Chocolate• Chocolate Syrup optionalInstructions1. Melt your white chocolate. I added a little bit of milk and whisked until creamy and smooth. 2. Dip your strawberry half or all the way into chocolate. 3. Refrigerate so that chocolate hardens. 4. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and serve when ready. Keep in fridge until then.